Chipper Jones and his great career to be lauded in Atlanta tonight

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Terry Adams released the pitch and instantly knew what was going to happen. Like the way screeching tires and exploding metal can make a car wreck seem like an eternity.

Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones smiles as he takes the field, (AP Photo/David Tulis) Special to the Press-Register

"It went in slow-motion," said Adams, a 11-year major league veteran from Mobile. "Before the swing even happens, you know something bad is going to happen. It's like the ball stops in time."

Chipper Jones turned on the hanging slider and launched it into the right-center stands at Turner Field. It was July 29, 1997. Three runs scored. The Braves beat Adams' Chicago Cubs.

"That's the first memory that popped into my head (when asked about Jones)," Adams said. "I can see it vividly."

What Adams didn't realize that Jones batted only .167 against him in 30 at-bats; he faced Jones, in fact, more than any other batter in his career. He struck out Jones 12 times; only Al Leiter, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson whiffed him more often, but with many more at-bats.

Maybe there's something symbolic in all that.

It is the great moments that will resonate forever for Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, not the strikeouts.

He was a flawed baseball player. He had injuries. He could never lift the Atlanta franchise to a World Series title after 1995. He is a flawed person. As he wrote himself in a recent "Sports Illustrated" column, "I've had a lot of failings, as a ballplayer, as a father, as a husband."

It is the great moments that are being celebrated tonight at Turner Field at Chipper Jones Tribute Night, which opens the final home weekend of his 19-year career, all with the Braves. (Ceremony at 6 p.m. CDT, first pitch against the Mets is 6:35.)

Adams is one of 666 different pitchers, going into Thursday's game, who bedeviled Jones, or vice versa.

"The first thing that comes to mind is him playing with one team for (almost) 20 years. You just don't see that," Adams said. "You've got to respect that loyalty to the Braves' franchise. Being a switch-hitter like him, you put him in the same likes with Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray. He's a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He's had one heck of a career."

This must be a persecuted lot, this fraternity of major league pitchers. Because for Steve Woodard, the Hartselle native who pitched for the Brewers, his first Chipper memory is "I thought I had him struck out and I threw him a slider down and in and he hit a home run at County Stadium."

That was a solo shot in the top of the fifth on June 1, 1998. It was Woodard's 19th major league appearance and "it's one of my memories. It's something I'll always be able to say that I pitched against a Hall of Famer."

Jones had success against Hall of Fame pitchers -- six homers off Randy Johnson -- and the average pitchers -- he tagged Steve Traschel for seven homers -- and all those in between.

The first of his 468 (and counting) career homers came against Josias Manzanillo on May 9, 1995. (That historical footnote is the least of Manzanillo's ignominies. Two years later, Manzanillo was struck with a Manny Ramirez line drive where, well, he should have been wearing a protective cup but wasn't. He later wound up mentioned in the Mitchell Report about the use of performance enhancing drugs.)

Woodard, who held Jones to 3-for-12 in their careers, recalled Jones as "a tough guy to get out in his heyday and all the way through. I honestly think he ought to stick around. He can play another year."

-- Chipper Minutiae: Jones was the second-youngest player in the major leagues when he made his debut. He is now the eighth-oldest player in the majors.

Jones was the first player picked in the 1990 draft, coming off his senior year at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla.

"He just had that special something. God reaches out and touches certain people," Don Suriano, his coach at Bolles, recently told Mark Wiedmer of The Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

Jones would become an eight-time All-Star, the National League MVP in 1999, the NL batting champ in 2008.

Even the greatest of gifts can fade. Jones is indeed putting up great numbers this season. He's been a catalyst for Atlanta's 13th playoff appearance since his rookie season of 1995. But as he wrote in the SI piece, "I'm a shell of myself."

Too modest. His batting average and OPS are only a skoosh less than his career average, though power numbers are down a little. He has 14 homers -- a homer is #yicketty in Chipper's Twitter-speak -- and 62 RBIs.

"You see somebody play this game as long as he has play with the passion he has, it's awesome to see," said Craig Kimbrel, the Huntsville native and Braves' reliever who, as a youth-league third baseman made sure to wear No. 10.

"He's just a baseball player. He loves the game and what's more important is he honors and respects the game. And he demands that from those around him," former Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz told braves.com.

More than that, Powell has been impressed with "the love-fest that's going on. And it's a two-way street." Fans have poured out their affection for Jones all across the country. Jones has reciprocated. Powell has even spotted Jones outside the Braves' road hotels, signing autographs for collectors.

Powell points to Jones' parents, Larry and Lynne, and their influence on him. Said Powell, "They're two of the most down-to-earth people in the world. And the apple doesn't fall from the tree."

It's a strong absolute to suggest, but Powell said, "Chipper is easily the most accommodating and interesting star athlete I've ever covered."

It's part of that special something, part of why there's a love-fest tonight, to celebrate one of the greatest players of his generation.

Contact Mark McCarter at mark.mccarter@htimes.com and follow him on Twitter @markmccarter